iTutorGroup: A case study of covert native-speakerism underneath a social justice façade
Keywords:
native-speakerism, discriminations, NEST, NNEST, racismAbstract
This article examines the covert native-speakerist strategies iTutorGroup utilizes to discriminate against teachers of nationalities the company appears to deem as undesired. Through content analysis of numerous job application submissions to iTutorGroup’s website, results show iTutorGroup’s automatic hiring process offers teachers of these nationalities a much lower potential wage and only a video-recorded asynchronous interview, if not complete refusal to an interview. In contrast, British, Australasian, and North American nationals are afforded a much higher potential wage as well as a one-on-one live interview. The company conceals these nuanced discriminatory strategies with a façade of equality since they are one of TESOL International Association’s Global Partners. As a Global Partner, iTutorGroup follows suit in pretending to uphold TESOL’s nondiscrimination policies.
References
Appleby, R. (2017). Occidental romanticism and English language education. In D. J. Rivers, & K. Zotzmann (Eds.), Isms in language education: Oppression, intersectionality and emancipation (pp. 249–266). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501503085-013
Akcan, S., Aydin, B., Karaman, A. C., Seferoglu, G., Korkmazgil, S., Özbilgin, A., & Selvi, A. F. (2017). Qualities and qualifications of EFL professionals: What do intensive English program administrators think? TESOL Journal, 8(3), 675–699. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.293
Alvarez, H. S. (2020). Critical literature review: Native speakerism within the Asian context. Journal of Belonging, Identity, Language, and Diversity, 4(2), 4–19.
Amin, N. (1997). Race and the identity of the nonnative ESL teacher. TESOL Quarterly, 31(3), 580–583. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587841
Asociación de Centros de Enseñanza de Idiomas de Andalucía. (2017, February 14). ACEIA se opone al uso del término “nativo” en los anuncios para la contratación de docentes de idiomas al considerarlo discriminatorio [ACEIA opposes the discriminatory use of the term "native" in advertisements used for hiring language teachers] [Press release]. https://nnest.moussu.net/docs/ACEIA_PressRelease(2017).pdf
Association of British Columbia Teachers of English as an Additional Language. (2014). BC TEAL position statement against discrimination on the grounds of nationality, ethnicity or linguistic heritage. https://nnest.moussu.net/docs/BCTEAL_PositionStatement(2014).pdf
Braine, G. (2010). Nonnative speaker English teachers: Research, pedagogy, and professional growth. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203856710
Calafato, R. (2019). The non-native speaker teacher as proficient multilingual: A critical review of research from 2009–2018. Lingua, 227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2019.06.001
China’s iTutorGroup targets $2 billion valuation ahead of IPO. (2018, April 24). Bloomberg. http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=140676854&scope=site
English Program in Korea. (n.d.). Eligibility. http://www.epik.go.kr/contents.do?contentsNo=48&menuNo=275
Fithriani, R. (2018). Discrimination behind NEST and NNEST dichotomy in ELT pofesionalism [sic]. KnE Social Sciences, 3(4), 741–755. https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v3i4.1982
Hickey, M. (2018). Thailand’s ‘English fever’, migrant teachers and cosmopolitan aspirations in an interconnected Asia. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 39(5), 738–751. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2018.1435603
Holliday, A. (2005). The struggle to teach English as an international language. Oxford University Press.
Holliday, A. (2008). Standards of English and politics of inclusion. Language Teaching, 41(1), 119–130. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444807004776
Hsu, H. (2005, November 28). Mainland bias against Chinese from the West. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/node/526855
iTutorGroup. (2015). ITutorGroup raises landmark Series C financing, valuing the company at over $1 billion [Press release]. https://web.archive.org/web/20200218020642/http:/itutorgroup.com/news_03.html
iTutorGroup. (2018, July 21). Keynote speech by iTutorGroup CEO Dr. Eric Yang at 2018 TESOL International Association China Assembly. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/notes/696057414668295/?locale=zh_CN&paipv=0&eav=AfbOpe83lIx9N-1RbVCdeWUTPmdXfsp48A8brcpkyrbysve3IKLP2w7I18FKj_wNaFg
iTutorGroup. (2020a, April 14). ITutorGroup: How an online education company helps to keep students in class amid COVID-19 [Press release]. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/itutorgroup-how-an-online-education-company-helps-to-keep-students-in-class-amid-covid-19-301039995.html
iTutorGroup. (2020b). Teaching requirements. https://web.archive.org/web/20191217010146/https://join.itutorgroup.com/#/?fromwhere=groupsite
Jenkins, J. (2005). Implementing an international approach to English pronunciation: The role of teacher attitudes and identity. TESOL Quarterly, 39(3), 535–543. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588493
Kachru, B. B. (1992). Models for non-native Englishes. In B. Kachru (Ed.), The other tongue: English across cultures (pp. 48–74). University of Illinois Press.
Kachru, B. B., & Nelson, C. L. (1996). World Englishes. In S. L. Mckay & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Sociolinguistics and language teaching (pp. 71–102). Cambridge University Press.
Keaney, G. (2016). NEST schemes and their role in English language teaching: A management perspective. In F. Copland, S. Garton, & S. Mann (Eds.), LETs and NESTs: Voices, views and vignettes (pp. 126–146). British Council.
Kiczkowiak, M. (2014, July 18). Native English-speaking teachers: Always the right choice? Voices Magazine. https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/native-english-speaking-teachers-always-right-choice
KOTESOL. (2019). KOTESOL non-discrimination policy. https://koreatesol.org/sites/default/files/pdf/KOTESOL-nondiscrimination-policy-rev-2019-6_0.pdf
Kubota, R., & Lin, A. (2006). Race and TESOL: Introduction to concepts and theories. TESOL Quarterly, 40(3), 471–493. https://doi.org/10.2307/40264540
Leimgruber, J. R. E. (2013). The trouble with World Englishes. English Today, 29(3), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078413000242
Leonard, P. (2019). ‘Devils’ or ‘Superstars’? Making English language teachers in China. In Lehmann, A., & Leonard, P. (Eds.), Destination China: Immigration to China in the post-reform era (pp. 147–172). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54433-9_7
Liu, J. (2018). Native-speakerism in ELT: A case study of English language education in China. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Liverpool.
Lowe, R. J., & Pinner, R. (2016). Finding the connections between native-speakerism and authenticity. Applied Linguistics Review, 7(1), 27–52. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2016-0002
Mackenzie, L. (2021). Discriminatory job advertisements for English language teachers in Colombia: An analysis of recruitment biases. TESOL Journal, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.535
Magic Ears. (2019). Everything you want to know about Magic Ears is here. https://t.mmears.com/v2/learn?rf=Google
Mahboob, A. & Golden R. (2013). Looking for native speakers of English: Discrimination in English language teaching job advertisements. Voices in Asia Journal, 1(1), 72–81.
Online English Teaching. (n.d.). iTutor overview. https://www.onlineenglishteaching.com/itutor
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford University Press.
Rao, Z. (2009). Chinese students’ perceptions of native English-speaking teachers in EFL teaching. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 31(1), 55–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630903301941
Rivers, D. J. (2013). Implications for identity: Inhabiting the ‘native-speaker’ English teacher location in the Japanese sociocultural context. In D. J. Rivers & S. A. Houghton (Eds.), Social identities and multiple selves in foreign language education (pp. 33–56). Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781472542045.ch-002
Rivers, D. J. (2016). Employment advertisements and native-speakerism in Japanese higher education. In F. Copland, S. Garton, & S. Mann (Eds.), LETs and NESTs: Voices, views and vignettes (pp. 126–146). British Council.
Rivers, D. J., & Ross, A. S. (2013). Idealized English teachers: The implicit influence of race in Japan. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 12(5), 321–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2013.835575
Ruecker, T., & Ives, L. (2015). White native English speakers needed: The rhetorical construction of privilege in online teacher recruitment spaces. TESOL Quarterly, 49(4), 733–756. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.195
Selvi, A. F. (2010). All teachers are equal, but some teachers are more equal than others: Trend analysis of job advertisements in English language teaching. WATESOL NNEST Caucus Annual Review, 1, 156–181. https://www.academia.edu/226716/All_Teachers_are_Equal_but_Some_Teachers
_are_More_Equal_than_Others_Trend_Analysis_of_Job_Advertisements_
in_English_Language_Teaching_2010_
Shao, T. (2005, October). Teaching English in China: NNESTs need not apply? NNEST Newsletter, 7(2). https://web.archive.org/web/20210225225741/https://www.tesol.org/news-landing-page/2011/10/27/nnest-news-volume-7-2-(october-2005)
Song, S., & Zhang, Z. (2010). Re-imagining the employment of nonnative-English-speaking teachers in EFL contexts. Forum for Fair Employment Fall 2010 Newsletter, 1–2. https://web.archive.org/web/20101025202047/http://karen.stanley.people.cpcc.
edu/Docs%20for%20FFE%20page/newsletters/Sept2010FFEnewsletter.doc
Sołek-Borowska, C., & Wilczewska, M. (2018). New technologies in the recruitment process. Economics and Culture, 15(2), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.2478/jec-2018-0017
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage.
Stanley, P. (2013). A critical ethnography of 'Westerners' teaching English in China: Shanghaied in Shanghai. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203078051
State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs. (2018, January 26). Evaluation criteria for foreigners employed in China (trial). http://english.www.gov.cn/services/work_in_china/2018/01/26/content_
htm
Teach&GO. (2020, January 16). iTutorGroup review – The worst paying online teaching company? https://teachandgo.com/blog/itutorgroup-review/
TESOL International Association. (n.d.). About. https://www.tesol.org/about/
TESOL International Association. (2001, October). Position statement opposing discrimination. https://www.tesol.org/media/w4xmhupt/antidiscrimination.pdf
TESOL International Association. (2006, March). Position statement against discrimination of nonnative speakers of English in the field of TESOL. https://www.tesol.org/media/d2gfeisk/position-statement-against-nnest-discrimination-march-2006-1.pdf
TESOL International Association. (2020). Global Partnership Program. https://www.tesol.org/about-tesol/advertise-sponsor-or-exhibit/alliance-partnership
TESOL-SPAIN. (2017). TESOL-SPAIN position statement against discrimination. https://nnest.moussu.net/docs/TESOLSpain_PositionStatement(2017).pdf
Widdowson, H. G. (1994). The ownership of English. TESOL Quarterly, 28(2), 377–389.
Yano, Y. (2009). The future of English: Beyond the Kachruvian three circle model? In K. Murata, & J. Jenkins (Eds.), Global Englishes in Asian contexts: Current and future debates (pp. 208–225). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230239531
Zoltán, D. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford University Press.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Those wishing to reproduce all or part of any material published on this website are asked to email mje.education@mcgill.ca for permission and to acknowledge the McGill Journal of Education as the original source.
Authors must transfer copyright of their article to MJE. Authors may use all or parts of their work in any future publication with the article's origin in MJE acknowledged in the customary manner.
A copy of our standard form may be requested from mje.education@mcgill.ca
